Story [Superman]The Last Son of Krypton(Book 1 of 3)-- THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS HONOR!

You have a pretty good line up there. This is all really good. Seeing Metallo and Luthor now, and knowing all those others are going to come along at some point. Unless something happens and I can't get to the site you have a permanent reader.

Lois was so proud of her front page article, that she read it three times before lunch. Between the readings, however, her thoughts were on Superman. Was he successful against Metallo? No one had seen him since they departed from the park, and she found that deeply unsettling.

No, she was not going to go there with her thoughts. He was Superman; he was virtually indestructible. She convinced herself that no one had seen him around in Metropolis because there had not been any big emergencies in Metropolis since last night. That had to be the case.

Another thing that was weighing heavily on her mind was the whereabouts of her apprentice. Clark Kent had not shown up for work at all today. She asked the chief about him, but he had no idea where he was either; Clark had never called in sick. While no one in the office seemed to care about his location, something inside of her was telling her that she needed to be concern about this.

?Darn it, this is my best work ever, and Smallville isn?t even here to read it.?

?Hi, Miss Lane,? Jimmy greeted with his normal enthusiasm. ?Your article is becoming the talk of the town. Most of the newsstands in Metropolis have sold out all of their copies of the Daily Planet.?

?That?s great Jimmy,? she responded, not really listening to what he said. ?Say, have you seen Clark anywhere??

?Now that you have mentioned it; no, I haven?t? Perhaps he came down with the flu? It is that season.?

?Hmmm,? Lois hummed as her eyes narrowed in intense concentration. Her concentration did not last long, and ended abruptly as she jumped to her feet. ?Jimmy, tell Perry that I am heading out.?

?Sure, but do you think that something is wrong with Clark??

Lois grabbed her purse from her desk and hooked the strap over her right shoulder. ?It?s probably nothing, but when it comes to Lex Luthor, one can never be too careful.?

?One thing I am certain of, Jimmy; Lex Luthor has no friends other than a big bank account.?

* * * *

Lois was able to get a hold of Clark?s address from the payroll department. It was far from ethical, and perhaps even illegal, but it did prove fruitful. If she was more computer literate, she could have accessed the accounts payable database and pull up Clark?s file to find out where his checks were mailed to. Since that was not the case, she had to resort to a more old-fashioned method: looking through stacks of envelopes until she came across one addressed to Clark.

As time consuming as that was, she was able to explain her presence away to anyone who inquired. When she found his apartment address, she took a cab to Clark?s address. When she arrived, she discovered that his apartment was on the tenth floor.

Entering the lobby, her first impression was less than thrilling. From the unsightly condition of the lobby, she knew she needed to be ready to see rat pellets everywhere. She wondered when the last time a maintenance man had stepped foot in this building. She went to the elevator to see it crossed off by yellow caution tape. ?How come this dump is not condemned yet??

She had no choice but to climb up ten flights of stairs. She muttered under her breath as she commenced her long climb up the filthy flight of steps. The conditions only got worse, as there were spots of rat urine on a few steps she passed on the way up. It was at the fifth level when she encountered her first live rat, which she nearly stepped on it. ?I swear, Clark Kent, you better be dead or dying for putting me through this.?

Her legs were starting to get tense by the tenth floor. She prayed that the apartment was in better shape than everything else she has seen. She walked down the narrow hall. The hallway was so narrow, that there was no possible way for anyone to pass someone else standing in the hallway. She found Clark?s apartment number and knocked on the wooden door.

After two attempts, no reply came from inside. She was convinced that he was not inside, or in no condition

Another day had come and gone, and Clark Kent was still nowhere to be seen. Now, Lois was certain that something was wrong. The last time anyone had seen him was here at his desk. She surmised that he was doing something on his desktop computer, but what?

?You wanted to see me, Miss Lane?? Jimmy asked, with his camera in hand. Whenever Lois needed his help, it usually involved photography, since that was what he did for the Daily Planet.

This time, he had a surprise coming to him. ?Yes, you are a young man, and into computers and video games and all that technology junk, right??

?Uh, I suppose,? Jimmy said, not quite sure what she was getting at.

?Do you know enough about computers to help me find out what the last thing Clark was doing on his computer??

?It depends. I assume that all the desktops are connected through a network, but do you know if the chief has installed any web activity tracking software??

?A what??

?Never mind,? Jimmy said, as he turned on the computer. He expected a long booting sequence as was common with Vista machines, but instead, it immediately went to the desktop with the logo of the Daily Planet as it?s wallpaper. ?Ah, good, I was afraid I was going to have to go to the IT department to find out Clark?s password. He never fully shut down the computer.?

?Are you sure? It was not making any type of noise.?

?I?m sure. The computer was just hibernating,? Jimmy replied as he started browsing for a web activity tracking software.

?Hibernating like a bear??

?Hibernating is a term that describes the state of a computer. Hibernating is when the computer the computer records the current state of the computer onto the hard drive just before it powers down. Waking up a computer in hibernation is faster than powering it on, and is used for power conservation.?

?That?s just weird,? Lois said with a frown.

Jimmy browsed through the computer for the software, but after a few minutes, he shook his head. ?Well, if there is a tracking software, it is running invisibly on the lowest kernel of the operating system. It will take to long to find it."

"Jimmy, I do not speak geekese; speak English.?

Jimmy was about to respond when Perry White came storming up to the two of them. ?Have either of you seen Clark Kent anywhere??

?Sorry, chief,? Lois shrugged. No one knows where he is,? Lois responded. She did not want him to know that she was trying to find him instead of doing her own job. The last thing she needed was her boss chewing her out and telling her to leave the investigating to the police.

?Well, he'd better show up soon, or he?s going to find himself out of a job,? Perry said and stormed off to his office.

?It looks like he?s in a bad mood today,? Jimmy whispered, not daring to allow himself to be overheard by the boss.

?He is always in a bad mood, Jimmy. Now, let?s see what else we can find, shall we??

?Alright,? Jimmy said. ?Okay, so there is no tracking software, but maybe?yes!?

?What is it?? Lois asked, expecting that he had found something important.

?He uses Firefox. This is going to be cakewalk.?

?What is Firefox??

?It is a web browser, just like Internet Explorer. Firefox has a feature that automatically restores the last session.? Jimmy clicked on the Firefox logo, and the web browser opened. Displaying on the screen was an on-line article about the car accident that John Corben was in.

Lois leaped out of the chair in alarm. ?He?s investigating the John Corben accident. He doesn?t know that he and Metallo are the same person! I have to report this to Lieutenant Turpin.?

* * * *

Turpin was happy to see Lois when she came down to headquarters. This was the first time they had seen each other since encountering Metallo down in the abandoned subway tunnel. When he regained consciousness, he found his way back to the surface. He went to find Lois, but when he heard that she had been rescued, he had called off his search and went home. Now, here she was; sitting in his office, on the other side of his desk. However, he got the distinct feeling t

Good chapter. This story is getting to the point that I don't want to stop reading it when the chapter ends, I need to know what happens next. This is very well written.

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Thank you!
I just wanted to announce that I have found a beta reader who will read over each chapter before I post them to help with spelling, punctuation, and grammar issues for the next story: Superman: The Man of Steel. I have already started working on the story, though I will not begin posting them until after this story is completed. I think you will find the next book just as good as this one has been, especially now that I have a beta helping me out.

Sorry for the long delay. I am in the process of Moving. For the next week, things will slow down a bit. The actual move is Thursday, so I'll try to get back to this story ASAP.

Chapter 28: A Hero?s Sin

With Superman gone, Metallo had no idea what he wanted to do next. He had kept to himself down in the underground lair that belonged to Lex Luthor. He had hoped that Lex would come down, eventually, so he rid Metropolis of another scum bag. So far, there had been no visits from Lex or anyone underneath him. It was impossible to believe that someone would not show up here at some point; even if it was just a maid. The lair was properly kept up; there was no dust on the furniture, and the carpets have been vacuumed.

As he explored the lair, he had found some neat hidden features that should not have surprised him. Sitting at the replica of the Presidential desk, he found a hidden panel of buttons. After testing the buttons, he found one, which caused a giant theater screen to drop from the roof. Automatically programmed to appear on the screen was MNN news channel.

He had to hand it to Lex Luthor, this was the perfect setup. He could literately live down here for years, and know exactly what is going on in the world above. The man may be a freak, but he was no dummy.

Metallo was content being down here by himself, and watch the world despair at the death of Superman. Unfortunately, there had not been one report about his death in two days now. Could it be that no one had found his body yet? Perhaps he should have tossed his carcass back into Metropolis so everyone could see.

As he contemplated on going back and doing just that, a report on the News pulled him from his thoughts. It was about a woman who had fallen down the side of a skyscraper, but he was not prepared for what was reported next. The woman survived when she was rescued by Superman. ?What? That?s impossible!? Metallo shot up to his feet; anger began to boil up inside of him.

The information was confirmed when they showed a picture, taken from a cell phone camera, of superman saving the woman. There was no faking an image like that. Superman was anything but dead. The clear-cut picture showed him to be of perfect health and stamina; there was not one single scratch on him.

?No!? He screamed violently and followed up with smashing the computer chair, which he had been sitting on, upon the Statue of David. Large pieces fell from the statue fell onto the ground, but Metallo could not care less about Luthor?s stupid piece of art. Superman was still alive, and he was going to have to find a way of keeping him dead.

* * * *

When Lieutenant Turpin and Captain Sawyer arrived at the crime scene, the police had already barricaded the surrounding area with police tape and squad cars. A hostage situation had developed at the Metropolis National Museum. Turpin was not at all anxious about coming to the crime scene, because there was a very good possibility of Superman coming in to save the day. The thought of Lex Luthor having a hand in saving the day made him sick to his stomach.

?I?m sorry Dan, but I have troubles believing that Superman would sell out to Lex Luthor.? During the drive to the crime scene, he had told her the whole story about last night?s visit with Luthor. Having been saved by Superman, she knew enough about him to know that selling out was not in his repertoire. She rubbed the bandage wrapped around her forehead.

?Well believe it. Leave it to Luthor to make himself look like a hero,? He muttered.

Turpin found Inspector Henderson, who was put in command of the situation. When he saw the two of them approaching, he gave them a courtesy nod. ?Dan?Maggie.?

?What do we have??

?Some madman, who calls himself the Toyman, has taken an entire elementary school class hostage. His real name is Winslow Schott. He is threatening to blow the kids up, unless his ransom is met.?

Never in his life had he been so angry. The anger he was unleashing was beyond anything Mercy had ever witnessed or experienced. She fought the urge to leave the room and leave Superman to the scalding that was coming to him, but she knew that Lex would frown on her leaving.

There was a part of her that could not believe he had the gull to rebuke Superman the way he was. If the alien wanted to, he could kill Lex without thinking about it. That was what concerned her the most about this plan; how could Lex actually control someone with god-like abilities?

?The man was trash, Luthor,? Superman defended himself firmly. ?Anyone who is willing to kill children for fun deserves to die.?

?That is beside the point!? Lex retaliated. ?You?re job is to help the police and fire fighters, and keep them on our side. That is kind of hard to do when you off the criminal by dropping him twenty stories to his death.?

?You try helping these people out. They are nothing but whinny, helpless, ignorant children. It?s bad enough that I have to put up with this planet?s yellow sun as it is.?

?Wait a minute!? Lex raised a hand. In his interview, he said that his abilities came from the yellow sun. How could this have changed? ?Earth?s sun is bothering you??

There was only one logical answer, and it was even more frightening than the predicament he was now in. Upon a closer inspection of Superman, he was able to confirm his worst fears. His pale face was turning pure white, and his eyes were going from a dark blue to a blood red.

?Of course it does,? Superman replied. ?My powers are being limited by it?s radiation. My strength is at it?s best during stormy weather.?

This was not good at all. This was a whole different issue that needed tending to immediately. ?I?ll take care of the mess. Leave me alone to think about this.?

Superman was tired of the conversation anyway. He made his way to the open window and took off. Mercy?s head was spinning with the sudden turn of events. She was not quite sure what had just happened, but she had noticed the growing white patch of skin on Superman?s face. ?That white skin on his face is serious isn?t it.?

?It is very serious; it means our cloning experiment is a failure. It appears that when my scientists tampered with the DNA, an unseen side effect happened. I had hoped that we could turn his weakness to his strength, but it appears that his strengths are becoming his weaknesses.?

?So Kryptonite makes the clone stronger, but the sunlight is slowly killing him? How bizarre.!?

?It certainly is,? Lex agreed.

Mercy?s Iphone went off in her pocket. She pulled it out and unlocked the screen with a swipe of her right forefinger across the screen. ?If you will pardon me, boss, I have an urgent matter to check up on.?

?Go deal with it, and report back to me if need be.?

Mercy raced for the elevator, which told Lex that he was more than likely going to be contacted by her shortly. It probably had to do with the actions of his faulty clone. While she checked up on the situation, he had questions that needed to be answered.

Lex Luthor pressed a button underneath the lip of his desk and the far wall on his left slid open to reveal a dimly lit passage. The passage way was not built so elegantly as the rest of his office; it resembled more like a dungeon, with it?s floors and walls made of pure concrete. The passage was only lit by a row of single florescent light bulbs.

Lex followed the pathway all the way to the end, where there was a large steel-armored door. It was the same type of door that banks used for their vaults to protect valuables entrusted to them. This door was modified with a small, bulletproof, see-through shield that would allow him to look inside.

When he looked in, he was shocked to see that Superman was still alive, if barely. With his wrists chained to a wall and the room glowing green from the Kryptonite exposure, Superman?s skin was an elderly gray. Actually, his facial features looked like that of an elderly man,

What had possessed her to search the underground railroad tunnels again, she had no idea. After what happened last time, she would have thought better of searching the tunnels alone. She did not tell Turpin of her intent to come back here; he would have just tried to convince her otherwise. She figured that there was no more danger since Superman had just killed Metallo. Perhaps she could find where Corben had been hiding out, and get some answers to her questions in the process. It was probably a long shot, but it was worth the time and effort to know for certain.

The Last time she was down here, Metallo had come out of nowhere to jump her and Lieutenant Inspector Tuprin. That meant that they had missed something down here the first time around. This time, she took her time; shinning the light on any and every crack on the wall. There was a hidden passage down here somewhere; she just had to be patient and thorough enough to find it.

Despite knowing that Metallo was not going to be jumping out and kidnapping her again, being alone in these dark tunnels made her very skittish. It had not crossed her mind that someone else could be lurking down here in the murky depths of Metropolis. It was too late, now, to turn change her mind and turn back. At least she knew some moves to defend herself with against normal criminals.

As she ran her light up and down the wall, she began to feel that she was wasting too much time. With the stretch of tunnel that she had yet to search, this could take her all the way into the morning hours. Perhaps having some help would have been a good idea after all.

She came to a warning sign on the wall. It was for workers who used to work down here when the subway was active. She took a closer look at the sign and felt around for any abnormalities. When she did not feel anything out of the ordinary, she began to play with the sign, itself; checking to see if it budged in any certain direction. To her amazement, she was able to pull the sign downward; and when she did, a hidden door became prevalent, and slid open. ?Lois Lane, you?re a genius!? She said proudly to herself.

She was expecting the hidden room to be some sort of filthy supply room with rats running rampant, but she was not prepared for what she actually found. She walked into a very large and luxuries hideout. It was fully carpeted, and furnished to the rim with rare art replicas. The construction of this room was obviously Italian in nature; it nearly reminded her of the inside of the Vatican. To her right was a giant library, to her left was an office, and straight ahead were some steps that lead to a giant pool. Though this hideout was very classic in nature, it also sported some very top-of-the-line technology with a drop down LCD screen.

If she was a betting woman, she would guess that this was where Metallo was hiding, though she doubted that this was his doing. This layout had Lex Luthor all over it. As she entered the office area, her guess was proven right when she found a nameplate on the desk which said, ?Lex Luthor: President of the United States?.

?Wow, that?s a frightening thought.?

?How the hell did you find this place!? An unexpected voice came from behind her

Startled, she dropped the name plate and spun around. Fear swept over her when she saw Metallo standing at the doorway. ?John, I thought you were dead!?

?I?ve told you that my name is now Metallo!? he growled.

?How did you survive? I saw the fight between you and Superman.?

?Yes, I survived, no thanks to that freak!? He muttered, turning away from her to head towards the library portion. ?Now leave me alone.?

She was shocked that he was going to just let her leave. The moment she saw him, she was certain that she was going to be used once again to draw Superman to her, or even kill her. ?You?re letting me leave? Am I missing something??

?Yes, I am letting you go. I have no quarrels with you, Lois. Just leave me alone.?

Lois cautiously stepped towards the exit, expecting this to be some sort of trap. When she

The clone flew out of Lexcorp tower only to find army tanks strolling down the street. All of their cannons were raised and pointing directly at him. The sight was almost hysterical to behold. Did these people actually think that they could take him down with these primitive weapons?

?I repeat, surrender yourself immediately, or you will be destroyed.? General Lane?s voice amplified up to him from somewhere among the eight tanks.

?Superman protects this city. You go away!?

General Lane looked over to one of his men standing next to him. ?Did he take some kind of stupid pill this morning?? The soldier shrugged, knowing not to answer the rhetorical question.

The general had hoped against all hope to end this peacefully, but deep down inside, he knew that this was going to end badly. People were already evacuating the buildings near Lexcorp tower. The city was put on full alert; they were encouraged to take shelter immediately. Hopefully the warning had gone out in time, because things were about to get explosive.

General Lane brought his hand held radio up to his mouth. ?Do it.?

On the rooftop of Lexcop tower, a young corporal had his shoulder-launched rocket launcher pointed and locked-in on Superman. He had been waiting for the word from General Lane over his hand held radio, which had just been given. Without hesitation, the corporal pulled the trigger, and the rocket whooshed from the launch tube. The Missile left a cloud trail in it?s wake as it raced towards it?s target.

The clone turned to look at the oncoming rocket, and allowed it to hit him. Upon impact, a six-foot fireball engulfed the clone for a brief second before evaporating, leaving him completely unharmed. Automatic machine gun fire followed the rocket attack, coming from two army soldiers on two separate rooftops. The bullets only bounced off of his body.

The clone focused his eyes on the machine gun in the hands of the soldier on the rooftop to his right. He fired two heat beams right onto the barrel of the gun. The gun quickly became too hot for handle, forcing the soldier to drop it. With the barrel of the gun melted, the gun was more than dealt with; it was useless. The clone looked to the gun on his other side and did the exact same thing.

One of the tanks on the ground let out a giant explosion, having fired it?s canon. The blast impacted him with such force that it threw him into the letter ?L? of the Lexcorp sign on the rooftop of Lexcorp tower. His collision caused sparks to fly from the giant neon-light letter.

After pushing himself free from the neon light, he brushed himself off. ?Superman will play rough now!?

* * * *

When Lois Lane informed him of everything she had learned, Turpin grabbed Sawyer and group of MPD officers and stormed Lexcorp tower. Despite the danger of everything going on outside, Tuprin was not going to pass this opportunity. They had finally nailed Luthor for some major crimes that would put him away for life. Perhaps they could get some closure in trying to find Clark Kent, Superman, or both.

Everyone be very careful. There is a lot of gun fire and rockets going off right outside. I doubt Luthor is still here, but we?ll worry about him afterward.?

Everyone agreed, as they prepared their weapons for whatever awaited them once the elevator reached Luthor?s office. When the elevator stopped and the bell chimed, everyone pointed their weapons forward. When the door split apart, they found a war zone waiting for them. Half the windows were shattered and debris from the ceiling was scatted across the floor.

Turpin and Sawyer led the way into the office. With their senses on full alert, they began to search the room. The sounds of explosions and gunshots from outside reverberated into the office.

?Dan, look at this!? Sawyer called out. Dan turned to see her looking through a giant hole in the wall.

He could tell that the hole was not made by the events going on outside. This looked like the act of a super powered fight. The closer he got to the hole, the mo

Coming to work today, Chuck had no idea of the chaos that the day would be. Working at the National Weather Service in Wichita, he was expecting a very uninteresting day. Today was supposed to be nothing but sunshine and warn temperatures for the entire state. As his shift began, that?s exactly how the day had started. Things changed so quickly, that he almost missed it. ?What the hell??

?See something, Chuck!? His friend, Paul, asked noticing the distress of his friend from his desk.

?Take a look at this!? He pointed to the map of Kansas on his monitor. It was a black screen with a white outline of the state of Arkansas and all the counties in the state. Each county had one or two numbers over them, and all of them were positive numbers except for one. The number over Metropolis was at a negative five. ?Look at the negative lifted index over Metropolis.?

Among all the positive numbers, Paul had to admit that a negative five was very unusual. Even stranger was how fast the lifted index number was dropping. It had dropped down to a negative seven within a minute. Another minute of watching and it dropped to negative nine.

?I have never seen the lifted index drop so fast in my life. It has to be a computer glitch,? Chuck commented.

Paul was not buying it, no matter how unusual the situation was. ?Something is causing the atmosphere over Metropolis to become very unstable. Pull up images from the Doppler radar.?

With a few swift keystrokes on the keyboard, he pulled up a radar the displayed a color-coded, cloud coverage over all of Kansas. There was a huge red blob over Metropolis, which faded into green on the outskirts. ?It?s a super cell, but how? Storms don?t form over land; not like this.?

?Not only that, but the storm is growing is magnitude,? Chuck pointed at a tiny purple speck in the very heart of the storm cell. ?I have no idea what?s feeding it.?

?Do we have any spotters in the area to confirm what we are seeing?? Paul asked, looking over at his friend.

?Are you kidding me? The forecast called for clear skies today.?

?Should we consider issuing warnings for Metropolis??

Chuck had no idea what to do. It was, already, too late for a warning to prove useful. By the time it was issued, massive damage and casualties would be skyrocketing. Even worse, they had no eyes on the ground to prove the validity of what they were seeing. This storm flew against everything they knew about storms. Either their equipment was faulty or this storm was not a natural occurring event.

* * * *

Frequent streaks of lightning flashed all around Metropolis. Explosions of thunder rocked the mega city as the storm intensified. The skyscraper rocked in the wind as if they were nothing more than trees. The wind had picked up so quickly, that General Lane had no time to take shelter. The wind toppled the aged military general unto the ground. Two soldiers had to help him up onto his feet and into the jeep. ?What in blazes is going on??

On the very edge of Metropolis, the wind had already begun damaging the building. Shards of glass and debris swirled through the streets, sending deadly sharp shrapnel in all directions. People in the streets were running for their lives, abandoning their vehicles in the streets. The clouds circled in the air and slowly descended, forming a funnel. The gray funnel continued to lower to the ground until it became a full, fledged tornado.

The twisted landed in the middle of the street, tearing the towers on both sides to shreds. All vehicles in its path were sucked into its funnel, and thrown in every direction. Many were thrown through the sides of buildings, causing even further damage.

* * * *

Lois Lane fought against the wind to find safety. Her original destination was to reach her father and tell him about Lex Luthor and the clone. She had just barely reached the tanks before the wind had become too strong. She saw her father being brought into a military jeep at the very end of the duel rows of tanks.

Superman I and II are the best of the movies, but in my opinion, they fall short on humanizing the hero. It was very hard to relate to Superman. That's what I wanted to capture in my trilogy. Yes, he may be a god-like superhero, but that does not mean he is completely invulnerable. He's kind of trying to find the perfect mix of his human side and his Kryptonian side. He has emotions and feelings that can sometime get in the way, and there are plenty of villains out there that can be very challenging for him. So far, the movies have not introduced any of them yet, for some strange reason.

Superman IV was just terrible. The plot holes, and that was possibly the worse writing for any incarnation of Lex Luthor I've ever sen. The fact that he stole the strand of Supermans' hair(and don't even get me started on that) himself was just clearly someone with a lack of awareness of who Luthor truly was.

Yeah, I agree with you. But always seemed to be the flaw pretty much most of the "living" Superman incarnations. The shows and movies always have him as an invulnerable, perfect being. Smallville was alright though.

Superman IV was just terrible. The plot holes, and that was possibly the worse writing for any incarnation of Lex Luthor I've ever sen. The fact that he stole the strand of Supermans' hair(and don't even get me started on that) himself was just clearly someone with a lack of awareness of who Luthor truly was.

Yeah, I agree with you. But always seemed to be the flaw pretty much most of the "living" Superman incarnations. The shows and movies always have him as an invulnerable, perfect being. Smallville was alright though.

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I actually loved Smallville. I did skip a few season because it got pretty bad, but last season it really came together again, and this season is by far the best.

Not sure what to think about the casting of the next Superman movie. It appears Diane Lane will be Martha Kent, Kevin Costner as Jonathon Kent, and Viggo Mortensen as General Zod. All three are A class actors. The movie is going to have a big payroll full of actors.

The new animated movie, All-Star Superman was brilliant. They captured his humanity perfectly. After savung a manned mission to the sun, he is overexposed to the sun radiation, and as a result he is dying. How he has to come to terms with his life as he prepares himself for death. Their portrayal of Lex Luthor is fantastic!

Superman smiled at his with caring eyes that had a knack of melting her strong headed personality. The passionate kiss took both of their minds away from the pouring rain and the danger that was coming. When the kiss ended, the realization of the threat that the clone represented, came rushing back into his memory. ?If you will excuse me, I have a mess to clean up.?

?You hold it right there, Superman!? General Lane screamed as he pushed through the crowd to get to them. He had five of his army men with him; each of them had a fully automatic machine gun in hand. ?I am taking you in for crimes against humanity.?

?Dad, you have it all wrong; we had it all wrong. Superman is not the one responsible for all the devastation.?

?Step aside, Lois,? General Lane said to his daughter. ?You really expect me to believe that there is another man in blue and red tights, with superhuman strength, flying around out there??

?It?s all true,? Turpin confirmed, pushing his way through the crowd that had surrounded Superman and Lois. ?We have evidence that Lex Luthor has created an illegal clone of Superman. We also believe that he had a direct role in creating Metallo. In my book, that?s conspiracy to committee murder, murder one, and hundreds of accounts of manslaughter. Consider the book thrown at Lex Luthor.?

?It can?t be,? General Lane posture changed drastically. He had defended Luthor to the very end, and now everything that his daughter and Lieutenant Inspector Turner had accused him of was all true. He was the one that made the deal with Lexcorp; this was not going to look good to his superiors.

?The clone you were fighting has white skin. Look at Superman; his skin is pale. Can?t you see the difference?? Lois pleaded.

The General Lane was clearly not happy. He had thought that he had Superman right where he wanted him, but now he saw his opportunity dissolve before his very eyes. He had the perfect opportunity to get rid of Superman. Superman had repeatedly refused to work with the military or sign an anti-vigilante registration bill. Because of his refusal, General Lane was more than happy to rid the world of such a dangerous weapon. Now, the opportunity had evaporated.

Adding insult to injury, he had yet found a weakness in the man he had assumed was the real Superman. All of his attempts to bring him down had only caused more devastation. So not only did he have to put goal to register Superman on hold, he had to humble himself and accept Superman?s help to do something that he could not. ?I will call off my men, but I will not leave Metropolis until you have cleaned up your mess and deal with this clone and this Metallo character.?

?I will deal with them,? Superman agreed.

?Don?t think this is over between us, Superman,? General Lane growled. ?I will support any legislation that forces you to register with the United States of America. No man is above the law; not even you.?

?General, I think it is for the best that we save this debate for another time.? Superman said, starting to get a little antsy. The clone was on his way back, and he had to get into the air to make sure the fight was taken away from the people.

The General was not stupid; he knew that Superman could hear the clone coming and was anxious to take the fight above the city. In a way, he respected him for it. He would make a great military leader one day, if only he could get him to cooperate. ?Go!?

With a nod of respect, Superman took to the air in the pouring rain with an occasional crack of thunder echoing through the streets of Metropolis. Superman flew up just past the height of the tallest building in the city. The clone met him up there as the two of them hovered over the city with their arms folded in front of them.

The clone appeared to be confused by his appearance. He appeared unaware that he even existed. ?You no Superman; me am Superman!?